Asked by: Julian Smith (Conservative - Skipton and Ripon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to ensure that the National Institute for Health and Social Care Excellence recommendation of an autism assessment within 3 months of referral is fulfilled.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Hon Member has highlighted a number of key issues for the Department which cannot adequately be summarised in a single answer. However, he can find regular updates on that work by following our news feed on the GOV.UK website, or by attending sessions of departmental questions.
Asked by: Julian Smith (Conservative - Skipton and Ripon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will take steps to ensure that all autism assessments result in a detailed report of the assessment, to allow sufficient evidence for a second opinion.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Hon Member has highlighted a number of key issues for the Department which cannot adequately be summarised in a single answer. However, he can find regular updates on that work by following our news feed on the GOV.UK website, or by attending sessions of departmental questions.
Asked by: Julian Smith (Conservative - Skipton and Ripon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of encouraging autism assessment providers to conduct face-to-face autism assessments.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Hon Member has highlighted a number of key issues for the Department which cannot adequately be summarised in a single answer. However, he can find regular updates on that work by following our news feed on the GOV.UK website, or by attending sessions of departmental questions.
Asked by: Julian Smith (Conservative - Skipton and Ripon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the impact of face-to-face rather than remote autism assessments on the quality of such assessments.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Hon Member has highlighted a number of key issues for the Department which cannot adequately be summarised in a single answer. However, he can find regular updates on that work by following our news feed on the GOV.UK website, or by attending sessions of departmental questions.
Asked by: Julian Smith (Conservative - Skipton and Ripon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the impact of the quality of autism assessments on demand for reassessments.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Hon Member has highlighted a number of key issues for the Department which cannot adequately be summarised in a single answer. However, he can find regular updates on that work by following our news feed on the GOV.UK website, or by attending sessions of departmental questions.
Asked by: Julian Smith (Conservative - Skipton and Ripon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the impact of the national framework and operational guidance for autism assessment services (2023) on a) the quality of autism assessments and b) the average waiting time for autism assessments.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Hon Member has highlighted a number of key issues for the Department which cannot adequately be summarised in a single answer. However, he can find regular updates on that work by following our news feed on the GOV.UK website, or by attending sessions of departmental questions.
Asked by: Julian Smith (Conservative - Skipton and Ripon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to ensure that autism assessments are a) comprehensive and b) completed in a timely manner.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Hon Member has highlighted a number of key issues for the Department which cannot adequately be summarised in a single answer. However, he can find regular updates on that work by following our news feed on the GOV.UK website, or by attending sessions of departmental questions.
Asked by: Julian Smith (Conservative - Skipton and Ripon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a system of quality control for autism assessments.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Hon Member has highlighted a number of key issues for the Department which cannot adequately be summarised in a single answer. However, he can find regular updates on that work by following our news feed on the GOV.UK website, or by attending sessions of departmental questions.
Asked by: Julian Smith (Conservative - Skipton and Ripon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of using existing community infrastructure, including Post Office branches, to support access to cash and everyday banking transactions.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government recognises the importance of cash, understanding that it continues to be used by millions of people across the UK, including charities, churches, voluntary organisations and community groups to support communities across the UK, and is committed to protecting access to cash for individuals and businesses.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) assumed regulatory responsibility for access to cash in September 2024. Its rules ensure cash continues to be a viable method of payment for the millions of people who depend on it by providing reasonable access to cash withdrawal and deposit facilities for individuals and businesses, including free services for personal accounts.
In addition to access to cash, the Government is committed to ensuring that people who need in-person banking can continue to access essential services. That is why the Government commissioned an independent Review into Access to Banking Services, to assess whether changes to access to in-person banking services are causing consumer detriment and the scale of any detriment.
As part of this, the Review will consider existing forms of in-person banking provision, including those available in the Post Office. Under the Banking Framework, a commercial agreement with 30 banking firms, most personal and business customers can withdraw and deposit cash, check their balance, pay bills and cash cheques at over 10,000 Post Office branches across the UK, subject to each bank’s service arrangements.
Alongside the Review, the Financial Services and Markets Bill includes a power to allow the Government to take action in future to protect access to banking services, should this be necessary. This power ensures the Government can act swiftly and proportionately, including through future regulation, if the evidence from the Review supports intervention.
Asked by: Julian Smith (Conservative - Skipton and Ripon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact on land managers of the change in the peat-depth threshold used for regulating heather burning from 40 centimetres to 30 centimetres; and what scientific evidence was used to support that change.
Answered by Jenny Riddell-Carpenter - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government is committed to protecting moorlands. In September 2025, we amended the Heather and Grass Burning (England) Regulations 2021 to improve the resilience of our moorlands. The Regulations reflect the latest available evidence to guide sustainable land management and protect areas of moorland where intensive management is known to occur on deep peat. A licensing scheme was introduced alongside the regulations in 2021 and has been maintained under the 2025 amendments. This enables land managers to apply for a licence to burn to reduce the impacts of wildfire where there is no feasible alternative. Burning is one of several tools available to land managers to manage vegetation and reduce wildfire risk. Other land management methods are not restricted by these regulations, which cover roughly 5% of England’s land area.
Defra relies on good quality evidence to inform its decision-making and policy design. Whilst we know that damage from burning can occur at any depth, evidence shows that at 30cm, peatlands are capable of sustaining blanket bog habitat. Natural England’s Evidence Review on the effects of managed burning in upland peatland (NEER155) was one source of information which fed into the decision to amend the Regulations. NEER155 built on Natural England’s 2013 review (NEER004) by incorporating 102 new studies, which were assessed and subjected to the appropriate academic rigour. The overall findings and conclusions of NEER155 remained consistent with those of the 2013 review. It concluded that burning, especially repeated burning, results in a departure from the typical structure of these habitats and can impact how they function. The Government remains satisfied that the Regulations are supported by the available evidence.